The Nature of a Word
by Sandra Evans
Summary: A single word can speak of love and loss, of joy and sorrow... Zutara. A series of sentences based upon 100 prompts.
1. Chapter 1

1. **Prompt** #_100: Thunder_

Their love flashed through the darkness of the world, bright and heady and absolutely exhilarating. For the briefest of moments, they were able to outshine the bleakness of their situation, but that was not to last. They had their moment, but the consequences of their actions boomed as loud and terrifying as thunder.

2.**Prompt **_#5: Two of a Kind_

He betrayed his family to save the world from his father and she betrayed hers to save him from himself.

3. **Prompt **_#36: Kiss _

The first time he'd tried to kiss her, she had turned her head in embarrassment. He got a mouthful of her hair. The second time, she'd smiled as he leaned in. He kissed her teeth. The third time, he gripped her face between his hands tightly to make sure that his lips would actually make contact with hers.

4. **Prompt **_#80: Weapon_

She had never thought that love could be used as a weapon, but he taught her that lesson well.

5. **Prompt: **_#76: Innocence _

When fate was kind, she had believed that good lay in everyone and that love could conquer all.With one act of betrayal, he shattered her image of the world and stripped her of her innocence.

6. **Prompt **_#45: Letters_

A young woman searched through her grandmother's personal effects and found a tragic story of love and loss.

7. **Prompt: **_#42: Blanket_

He didn't realize it until much later on, but she had been his security blanket in his darkest times. When his world was at its coldest, she had brought him warmth.

8. **Prompt: **_#30: Spirits_

Agni knew the desires of his heart, but this was one prayer that the spirits refused to answer.

9. **Prompt **_#66: Touch_

Her lips brushed against his, but it was his heart that she touched.

10. **Prompt **_#84: Flower_

He had always likened her to a flower: delicate, fragile, and beautiful. It was only after the final battle, when she had lost her brother at the hands of his sister and still had the strength to smile, that Zuko realized that she was made of something much stronger.

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**A/N:** For those of you who are following Eclipse, I apologize profusely for the wait. I'm in all college courses and they're a lot harder than I thought they were going to be, and take up much more time than I thought they would. School's gotten me into this really strange mood, andI don't want to touch Eclipse while I'm in this wierd funk. Sorry again! 

Please Review!!!


	2. Chapter 2

**11. Prompt **_#25: Skin_

His skin shone as white as the moon, hers gleamed as dark as sun warmed earth.

**12. Prompt **#27: _Mask_

When she was with her family, she wore the mask of the matriarch; when she was around compatriots she donned the mask of strength. When she was with him, Katara didn't need to pretend.

**13. Prompt **_#14: Hope_

Hope is a dangerous thing, as Katara discovered. It brings peace and joy, but when there is no longer a place for it, you are left hollow, empty, and bitter.

**14. Prompt **_#86: Weakness_

His father once told him that love is weakness; Katara taught him that his love is his strength.

**15. Prompt **_#61: Birth_

Birth is a joyous event, but it is brought on by much suffering. The birth of their love was no different.

**16. Prompt **_#93: choices_

Their decisions led them down different paths and twisted their love into hatred.

**17. Prompt **_#32: Destiny_

Aunt Wu had once told her that she was destined to marry a powerful bender. As Katara cradled Zuko's lifeless body in her arms, she stopped believing in fate.

**18. Prompt **_#99: Clouds_

For just an hour, they forget the war and act the part of the children that they are, holding hands and trying to find shapes in the clouds.

**19. Prompt **_#43: Dreams_

They had dreamed that they could overcome their differences and find a way to be together at the war's end. In reality, the only place that could accept them was in their fantasies.

**20. Prompt **_#46: Silence_

"I thought you loved me!" she shouted past her tears when he took a fighting stance beside his sister. She had never known that silence could be so deafening.

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Review Please! 


	3. Chapter 3

**21. Prompt **_#1: Beginnings_

Their beginning was hardly conventional, but then neither was their love.

**22. Prompt **_#55: Enemies_

Katara hates him for killing Aang in the name of his father, but her heart aches for the boy that he could have been.

**23. Prompt **_#24: Eyes_

In his mother's eyes, he had seen blind love, in his father's hatred, in his sister's disdain. In hers eyes, he saw acceptance for all he had done and love in spite of his betrayal.

**24. Prompt **_#41: Royalty_

Zuko found it ironic how royalty got whatever they wanted, but it was because he was a prince that he could never be with the one thing that he needed.

**25. Prompt **_#26: Blood_

Katara has never been squeamish, but when it is his blood that seeps through her clothing she is sick at heart.

**26. Prompt **_#35: Hug_

He had never known that a hug could heal so much.

**27. Prompt **_#23: Hair_

"It's just hair," he whispers as he severs both his top knot and his last connection to his homeland.

**28. Prompt **_#90: Safe_

It was ironic how she felt the safest while in the arms of her enemy.

**29. Prompt **_#9: First_

He was the first boy she had ever loved, but he wasn't the first to break her heart.

**30. Prompt **#_12: Tears_

"You promised you'd never leave me," she whispered, standing beside his grave. A tear dropped from her wet cheeks, and even in death Zuko could feel her pain.

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Please Review. Thanks so much.

SE


	4. Chapter 4

**31. Prompt **_#16: Love_

They exchanged goodbyes too early and vows of love too late.

**32. Prompt **_#60: Guilt_

"My sister…my father…" he would say, his voice laden with guilt.

"Me," she whispered in response, and his guilt was absolved.

**33. Prompt **_#20: Clean_

"If I wash myself enough, maybe I'll be clean again!" Katara exclaimed brokenly as she rubbed the twigs across her body.

"You are clean," Zuko replied softly, pulling her arms away from her body.

They both knew that he was lying, for the blood that rose from her self induced scratches was no match for the amount of blood that she had bent and spilled.

**34. Prompt**_ #52: Parents_

These children proclaimed to have lost their need for parents long ago, yet the only wound left unhealed was that of their mothers' departures.

**35. Prompt **_#97: Rain_

The Fire Lord stood in the rain, heedless of how the water was destroying the fine silk of his formal robes. He was caught up in another place, another time, where a blue eyed girl smiled as she lifted her face towards the storm.

**36. Prompt **_#98: Sun_

The waterbending master paused in her teaching when she felt the warmth of the sun seep through her parka. The memory of golden eyes and molten kisses seared through her, and for the briefest of moments, she allowed herself to pretend that the world had accepted a union of water and fire.

**37. Prompt** _#94: Lost_

"I can't risk losing you," he exclaimed harshly, drawing Katara against him.

"Oh Zuko," she whispered sadly. "You've already lost me."

**38. Prompt **_#22: Hands_

The waterbending peasant had the hands smooth of a princess; the prince of the Fire Nation bore the calluses of peasantry.

**39. Prompt **#_44: Reality _

As a child, she had often dreamed of 'happily ever afters.' As an adult, she learned that reality rarely occurs happily.

**40. Prompt **_#78: Gift_

Her heart was the most precious gift that she could offer, but he rejected it without realizing its worth.

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Once again, please review. Thanks!

-SE


	5. Chapter 5

Prompt # 77: Children

**41. Prompt # 77: **_Children_

The children laugh at an old woman who claims that she once bent the ocean to her will, and Katara is filled with sorrow at what the world has become.

**42. Prompt #50: **_Destroy_

In re-building the bridge that connected him to his father, he destroyed all chances of becoming the man he was destined to be.

**43. Prompt #10: **_Last _

He was the first to betray them; she was the last to forgive him.

**44. Prompt #69: **_Seasons_

Winter thawed into spring; spring melted summer. The seasons continued to pass after Zuko's death, but Katara's heart was lost in a state of everlasting winter.

**45. Prompt #82: **_War_

He led the avatar's allies to victory, but he lost the war for her heart.

**46. Prompt #88: **_Cowardice_

Many claimed that he was a coward for refusing to fight his country to be with the woman that he loved; in reality, his compliance with his people spoke of great courage and a sacrificial heart.

**47. Prompt #63: **_Sound_

Zuko had never understood how a single sound could flood the soul…and then he heard her laugh.

**48. Prompt #79: **_Color_

They circled the sacred fire four times to seal their union, for the fire alone was an unbiased witness. Unlike the other witnesses, it did not see color or faith or class…it merely understood the love between a man and a woman.

**49. Prompt #81: **_Ashes_

Out of the ashes of their broken hearts rose a love so powerful, it was able to transcend the passage of time.

**50. Prompt #19: **_Lies_

They whispered beautiful words to one another of a future and an everlasting love. And oh, what loving lies they were.


	6. Chapter 6

51

**51. Prompt #28: **_Naked_

She looked deep into his eyes, and he knew that she could read all of the pain and resentment and self-loathing within him. He had never felt more naked.

**52. Prompt #64: **_Smell_

She smelled of furs and fat and ash…not a pleasant scent. But when she had been gone for a year, and she was replaced with a woman who reeked of fragrant perfume, he longed for her earthy smell.

**53. Prompt #51: **_Family_

When it seemed that the world had forsaken them, two enemies found a family in each other.

**54. Prompt #50: **_Destroy_

It was in fire's nature to destroy, Katara knew. So why was she so surprised when it was her heart that he shattered?

**55. Prompt #72: **_Home_

She had traveled from the South Pole to the Earth Kingdom, from their Air Temples to the Fire Nation, and she had never felt quite as home as she did in his arms.

**56. Prompt #96: **_Memories_

"Were we ever that young?" Katara asked with a sigh as she ran a hand over the portrait she held in her lap. In had been painted spontaneously, and all in the picture were laughing, save for Sokka. The boy had been complaining all morning about the need to keep still, and Toph kept making the earth rumble beneath his feet in retaliation.

That was before death had crept into their lives, before a thousand something's had come to tear everything apart at the seams.

"Yeah, I think we were," Zuko whispered, pressing a kiss onto Katara's dark cheek.

**57. Prompt #31: **_Jewelry_

The first time that Katara's neck laid bare, she had spent nights weeping over losing the last remnant of her mother. The second time, after she had returned Zuko's betrothal necklace, she had sobbed for the love that was never supposed to be,

**58. Prompt #65: **_Taste_

Zuko nearly gagged as the bland, slippery, tasteless Water Tribe cuisine slid down his throat, but somehow he managed to compliment Katara's culinary skills and had taken another bite. The bright smile that she tossed his way made eating the noxious meal worthwhile.

**59. Prompt #73: **_Blame_

Every time Katara looked into his eyes, she saw the reflection of their dead little boy - the son that she had failed to protect. Every time Zuko gazed into hers, he could only see pain and accusation. He willingly took the blame upon his shoulders.

**60. Prompt #83: **_Peace_

Keeping the peace was a lot harder than ending the war, the children were too late to realize. During the war, they had been free- they had lived as they chose and followed their hearts. Peace required too many painful sacrifices, and required them to betray their hearts.


	7. Chapter 7

61. **Prompt **_#2_**: **_Endings_

They had believed their love to be eternal, but they were young, and foolish, and wrong. For even the largest blaze eventually smolders and dies.

62. **Prompt** _#4: Wealth_

She taught him that without love, he was worth nothing. Through her, he learned that it was love, not gold, that gave a man his wealth.

63. **Prompt **_#11: Honor_

It was for a loss of honor that he was scarred and banished, for search of honor that he hunted a myth, for confusion about the meaning of honor that he betrayed a blue eyed beauty's trust. It was for the honor of his country that he left behind the woman he loved, for her honor he did not conduct a secret affair. But because the longings of his heart were neither good nor just, Fire Lord Zuko never saw himself as an honorable man.

64. **Prompt** _#13: Laughter_

She taught him that joy could be found in the midst of great misery, and showed him how to laugh through his tears.

65. **Prompt **_#67: Sight_

Zuko walked through life as though he were blind, unable to see past the pain in which he suffered. She brought light into his life, soothed the wounds inflicted upon his soul, and kissed away his pain. In the end, it was her love that allowed him to see.

66. **Prompt **_#85: Strength_

When his heart became too hard, she cared enough for the both of them. When her strength began to falter, it was he who held her up.

67. **Prompt **_#89: Dangerous_

Perhaps the most dangerous thing in the world is to fall in love. For only love can rip a person's heart from their chest and allow them to keep on breathing; only love can tilt your world on its axis and make you realize that everything you have believed in has been a lie. And only love can distort who you are so completley that you can no longer recognize who you are.

68. **Prompt **_#94: Lost_

The spirits had never intended for their paths to wind together. So it was that they had lost their love even before it had a chance to begin.

69. **Prompt **_#37: Possession_

The phrase, 'you break it, you bought it' applies to everything but a broken heart.

70. **Prompt **_#54: Friends_

Although they never intended to bond with one another, they formed a close knit friendship. And despite their relationships with other people, that friendship grew into love.


	8. Chapter 8

71

71. **Prompt **_#92: Closed_

His wife soon learned that his love for the blue eyed water bender had sealed away his heart. And although the Fire Lord was hers in name, she was closed off from the man that she loved.

72. **Prompt **_#17: Lust_

It is only lust, he tells himself as he stares into her blue, blue eyes, but he knows that it is a lie. For he has felt lust before- felt its burn, and its tremors have passed through his limbs. What he feels now is something different entirely, something warm and soft and sweet; something that grows every time he sees her and floods his heart with tenderness. But that feeling terrifies him, for he has felt that before as well. So he continues to lie to himself, for he knows that lust is so much easier to deal with than love.

73. **Prompt **_#87: Courage_

She was the most courageous woman that he had ever known, for in the darkest of times, she had the strength to wake each morning with a smile upon her face. In the most painful of moments, she was always prepared to soothe away the hurts of everyone but herself. And when the Avatar asked for her hand in marriage, she braved a world where she could no longer be with the man that she loved so that the last surviving Airbender could find a sliver of happiness.

74. **Prompt **_#49: Nurture_

She had spent so much time nurturing others that she had forgotten how to take care of herself.

75. **Prompt **_#53: Siblings _

The avatar and his wife acted more like siblings than a couple, the Fire Lord noted, but then again, he knew where her heart truly laid.

76. **Prompt **_#74: Light_

He had never realized that he had lived in darkness until she lit up his life with her light.

77. **Prompt** _#72: Forgiveness_

The avatar pretended that he didn't see the eyes of his wife and the Fire Lord meet as often as they did, ignored it when their hands lingered too long and their shoulders brushed unnecessarily. And when he learned of their tryst in the garden, he forgave them, for he knew that she had never truly belonged to him.

78. **Prompt **_#68: Elements_

Their love bore the passion of fire, and the adaptability of water, while it was also solid like the earth and as playful as the wind.

79. **Prompt **_#57: Strangers_

Somehow two strangers became enemies, and those enemies fell in love.

80. **Prompt **_#33: Comfort_

She turned to him for comfort in her darkest hour, but Zuko had never been one for words.


	9. Chapter 9

81. **Prompt** #6: _Past_

Once upon a time, they had hated each other with all the passion that their young hearts could conjure; they grew up, they changed, and decided to leave the past behind them.

82. **Prompt** #7: _Present_

She crosses pale, slim arms over a pale, thin chest as she quickens her step and pretends not to see her husband and the girl of his dreams making love in the shadows of her garden. With the present as painful as it is, Mai cannot bear to think about the future.

83. **Prompt** #8: _Future_

She clings to him under the cover of darkness, and he whispers to her of a future that is far too beautiful to ever be.

84. **Prompt** #3: _Poverty_

For two months, he had traveled with the gang and had lived like a pauper- barely scraping enough coin together for a decent meal, living by the sweat of his brow, and subsisting largely on camaraderie. And yet, he had never felt more rich.

85. **Prompt** #15: _Fear_

"I'm scared," she whispers softly, and slowly, timidly, he reaches out and takes her hand. The fire crackles, and her chin trembles as she tries to keep herself from falling to pieces. Zuko squeezes her hand and scoots closer to her, so close that she can feel the heat of his body, and his thigh against her own. Suddenly, she is no longer quite so afraid.

86. **Prompt** #18: _Truth_

There is one truth in this life: it never goes as expected.

87. **Prompt** #95: _Found_

He had hidden his bruised and beaten heart away from the world, but somehow, a blue eyed child looked into his eyes, reached into his soul, saw into his heart, and breathed life back into the organ she found.

88. **Prompt** #91: _Open_

Her face had once read like an open book and she'd worn her heart on her sleeve. But life and lost love had toughened her, and her once bright, expression filled face became cold and closed.

89. **Prompt** #34: _Attack_

When Azula turned to launch her attack on the innocent girl, all Zuko had been able to think was "Not her, not her…" Not the girl who was full of ridiculous, childish, idealistic dreams. Not the girl who sacrificed half of her share of food to keep the younger members of the group full when they were running low on supplies. Not the girl who'd been able to forgive a murderer and chose not to wield the power of blood bending. He couldn't picture his life without her, so he willingly jumped in front of a lightening bolt and took the attack that had been meant to end her life.

90. **Prompt** #21: _Dirty_

Katara groaned as she stared at the massive pile of dirty dishes that needed washing. But then Zuko rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, gave her a shy little grin, and began to scrub. Suddenly, the thought of washing dishes was incredibly appealing.


End file.
